Garrett: Defense is a Work in Progress

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The Dallas Cowboys’ defense will presumably look a lot different this season under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, but over the first two preseason games, the group has looked woefully familiar from 2010, surrendering 20 points a game against the Broncos and Chargers, and allowing quarterbacks to complete better than 65 percent of passes for a 99 quarterback rating.

This could be attributed to the lack of offseason workouts, which were wiped from the schedule due to the lockout and which kept Ryan from any hands-on instruction in the nuances of his brand of the 3-4--whereas the offense remains the same as it was last year.

Indeed, head coach Jason Garrett acknowledges that the defense faces a peculiar challenge in learning a new system in a shortened span.

That said, Garrett believes the team will be able to iron out any difficulties between now and the team’s season opener, against the Jets in New York, on September 11.

"They've had to learn more quickly to understand how to make adjustments and how to be resourceful more quickly than the other units have," Garrett said. "In the offense and the kicking game we had to be reminded of things and learn on the run on some of the new things we're trying to run. On defense, they've responded very well."